Page 3 of Best Part of Me

Chris clears his throat beside me, tearing me from my fantasy. I blink and swallow, while I slowly ease back into my chair.

“At least I don’t have a reputation of being a fuck-boy.” It’s not what I had intended on saying but it’s what comes out. If it hurts him, his expression doesn’t show. Maverick simply shoots me a cocky grin before taking a huge bite of his bread with exaggeration.

“Camille, may I speak with you in private?” Chris asks while he stands, and holds his hand out to me.

It’s not a question.

Resting my hand into his palm, I allow him to guide me out of the room. Once we’re in the dimly lit hall of the restaurant, and the door closes behind us, Chris tears his hand from my grip. I suck in a breath but remain quiet while he paces and tethers his fingers behind his head.

“Are you trying to humiliate me, Camille?” he spits, my name like fire from his lips.

“What do you mean?”

He stops abruptly in front of me, squeezing in closer when a server passes behind him. “That, back there.” He swings an arm toward the room we just left. “You two were flirting. At our engagement dinner. I could beat his ass.”

A laugh bubbles out of me. I can’t help it. The idea of Maverick flirting with me is comical. Not to mention the image of Chris beating him up. Maverick is a powerhouse, all muscle and grit.

Chris’s eyes go round.

I touch his arm gently with my fingers. “Maverick and I are just friends. You know that.”

“That wasn’t friendship behavior,” he shoots back, his nostrils flaring.

Chris isn’t completely off base. There is a part of me that will always love Maverick. But since he will never return those feelings, I’m trying to move on. Chris isn’t perfect but he cares about me, and Mom adores him.

I move my hand to his chest and rest my palm there. “It’s not like that between us.”

“You could’ve fooled me. And everyone else at the table. That public display of foreplay between you two was humiliating.”

Just hearing the wordforeplayin connection between Maverick and me has my skin tingling. It’s wrong on so many levels.

“I’m sorry if that embarrassed you.”

“If?” he fires back and props his hands onto his hips. “You’re going to be my wife. Do you get that? And I don’t think it’s too much to ask of you to not fucking flirt with other men.”

“It’s not,” my voice is small and I hate it. “I wasn’t—”

“Camille,” he interrupts, “I don’t care if you have male friendships. Just not that one.”

I’m not sure I heard him correctly. I tilt my head and pinch my brows together. “What?”

“It’s not healthy. The way you two carry on with one another. I think it’s time to cut the ties.”

“How can you ask me to do that? He’s been a part of my life since I was thirteen. He’s Jones’s best friend. He’s like family.”

Stepping toward me, Chris takes my face in his hands. “I’myour family.”

The door to our reserved room opens and when I glance over my shoulder, I shouldn’t be surprised to find Maverick standing there.

He clears his throat. “So as much fun as tonight has been, I’m gonna go.”

A rock sits in the pit of my stomach as the hurt on his face is something he’s unable to hide this time.

“Don’t expect me to argue with you,” Chris sneers.

Maverick approaches Chris, his height towering over him by a few inches. “But just so you know, that entire room of people in there who love you and love Cammie can hear every fucking word you’ve said. So if you wanna talk about humiliation, why don’t you start by not embarrassing your future wife by treating her like shit or I’m gonna have to beatyourass.”

Chris’s face turns a bright shade of red as the reality of Maverick’s words sink in.

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